PASSAIC COUNTY, New Jersey — In the Garden State’s governor’s race, nowhere is voter turnout more important than in Passaic County, a population of over 526,000 that a decade ago didn’t receive a second thought, but has since turned heads for its rightward shift in 2024.
Tuesday marks Election Day for New Jersey residents, as they head to the polls to vote in the gubernatorial race between Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli. Polling shows that this is truly anybody’s race, and both candidates stressed the need for maximum voter participation at their closing rallies on Monday night.
The diverse, suburban Passaic County shocked the country when, after going for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by 52 points in 2016 and 16 points for former President Joe Biden in 2020, it flipped and voted for President Donald Trump in 2024. He defeated former Vice President Kamala Harris in the county with 95,000 votes to her 89,000.
The shift of the once-blue stronghold to a district won by Trump baffled many in the days after the November general election. Harris ultimately won New Jersey, but she was the first Democrat since 2004 to win it by single digits.
In 2024, the area’s culturally conservative Latino population helped deliver Trump’s victory in the county. The county’s Hispanic population sits at 45%, with 38% white and 15% black as of November 2024. The “two or more races” category is the largest racial group in the county, per census data.
Both the general election results and Passaic County’s ballot count, in particular, signaled that New Jersey may be moving red — and put Sherrill on a path to have one of the most competitive gubernatorial races the state’s seen in years.
The Washington Examiner visited five polling locations in Passaic County on Tuesday. Foot traffic was low, given the state’s early in-person and mail-in voting. Over 700,000 people voted early in the 2025 cycle, not quite hitting the record turnout set last year.
In Passaic County, Republican voters have a wide range of reasons to support Ciattarelli in the 2025 election.
Margaret Kearney, of Wayne, told the Washington Examiner after exiting the polls that she voted for Ciattarelli for one reason: he was endorsed by Trump.
“I voted for Donald Trump three times,” Kearney said. “If he runs again, I’d love to vote for him again. He’s doing great things for America, and I’m very hopeful today that New Jersey turns red.”
When asked about specific policies of Ciattarelli’s that she likes, she just said the “fact that he’s a Republican” and that the president threw his support behind him.
Tuesday’s election will be a test of political influence for both Trump and former President Barack Obama, who endorsed and stumped for Sherrill in the final days of the general election season.
One of the biggest gambles of Ciattarelli’s campaign was tying himself to Trump. On one hand, it would hopefully drive out Trump voters in an off-year election cycle, when the GOP historically does not fare well in terms of turnout. But, aligning his policies to mirror the president’s could backfire when trying to attract centrist and even some Democratic voters.
Ciattarelli has brushed off concerns that he won’t win, noting that he’s received endorsements from over a dozen prominent Democrats and has been well-received by minority populations.
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Kearney, who is from Peru, said she thinks the country and the state are going through a “difficult time” when it comes to politics.
“I think this is our time, now, for us to make a change,” Kearney said.
For Grigoriy Kats, also of Wayne, his decision to vote Republican came from his experiences living and visiting other countries.
Kats is a dual citizen of the United States and Brazil, where his family currently lives as his spouse works to obtain a green card. He said he has been going back and forth for years for personal and business travel, and in his opinion, “nothing is getting better.”
When asked about specific Ciattarelli policies he liked, he said education and school choice were his biggest motivators.
“I believe he can definitely bring this state to a better place, because what we have in New Jersey, it’s not improving,” Kats said.
He said he’s also concerned with what he’s seeing happening in New York with self-described socialist Zohran Mamdani on track to win the New York City mayoral race on Tuesday.
He has a personal experience with communism, which GOP opponents have alleged Mamdani will bring to New York City if elected, having been born in Uzbekistan, and is Jewish. Along with his business travel, he said he has seen the way communism and socialism have affected countries.
“So, I don’t want that to happen to New York City,” he said of a Mamdani win. “But New Jersey, you know what? Even if we lose, and Mamdani wins, New Jersey is just gonna go up, because they’re gonna run away from New York City.”
Like Kearney, he’s hoping to see a change from the last two terms of Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration. With Democrats in charge, and Sherrill representing the state in Washington, in his opinion, “we’re nowhere near better than we were.”
“Change is always good,” he added. “Is it gonna be better? I hope so. Is he gonna do what he says he’s gonna do? I hope so.”
Thomas Ramirez, 27, of Passaic, is a registered independent. He said he decided to vote for Ciattarelli because of the candidate’s performance in the debates.
“One thing about Jack, I gotta give him a lot of credit: He’s born and raised in New Jersey, been here his whole life, so he knows what’s going on,” Ramirez said. “And at the same time, he has specifics, like he really, whatever question you give him, he’ll give you specifics for it.”
“That’s what we need,” he added. “We need certainty.”
When it comes to Sherrill, Ramirez said “you can only deflect questions for so long” — a nod to her first debate performance, where she gave an honest answer that she was “not going to commit to anything right now” regarding a sales tax. Less than 24 hours later, her campaign released a statement committing not to increase the sales tax.
But for Ramirez, who watched the debates to learn more about the candidates, that answer told him enough.
“A lot of people go off of their instincts, not like what the media gives them, but if you watch the debate, sometimes you can see something different,” Ramirez said. “We need clarification and we need certainty. You can only be black or white for so long. You can’t — you have to get out the gray area.”
Ciattarelli’s campaign motto, “It’s time!” resonated with Ramirez.
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“Jack is right. For 25 years, the Democrat Party has, you know, ran over, took over, and look where it’s got us today,” Ramirez said.
Polls are open in New Jersey until 8 p.m. with results to follow. New Jersey’s race is considered the most competitive of the three major elections this cycle, followed by Virginia’s gubernatorial and New York City’s mayoral races.
Sydney Topf contributed to this report.